The present invention relates to an integrated valve assembly and to ambulatory equipment that comprises such an integrated valve assembly mounted on a small compressed-gas bottle, which can be opened and used only if a use device for delivering gas, such as a flowmeter, a breathing valve, an opening tool for purging the bottle, or any other device using the gas, is connected thereto via a specific connection interface for releasing a lock which prevents rotation of the operating device for opening the valve and releasing the gas.
Ambulatory equipment using compressed gas or liquid oxygen sources currently exists.
Liquid oxygen sources are generally smaller and provide greater autonomy, which is often overly long for patients moving about over short distances.
However, the use of liquid oxygen is not ideal as evaporation of the liquid causes gas losses and having to use liquid oxygen is not advantageous, owing to its cost, when the patient is walking about for only a short time.
Moreover, the various types of equipment that exist using a compressed-gas source are somewhat impractical, bulky and often too heavy for patients receiving this type of treatment since they are often elderly or feeble.
In addition, the use of such equipment requires the use of pressure regulators whose interface with the bottle is exposed to very high pressures, i.e. of the order of 200 bar, which requires laborious and tricky operation for the user and is not without danger, in particular should there be a poor connection, insufficient maintenance or the unintentional presence of grease particles in the regions under high pressure.
Furthermore, these sources are generally used either with flowmeters or electronically controlled demand valves or pneumatically controlled valves.
Now, electronically controlled valves require an additional energy supply provided by a cell or batteries, which must be available at the time of use, something which is not always the case.
As regards pneumatically controlled valves, these use the energy of the stored gas for the main opening and the inspiration of the user as initiating command. Consequently, they are often more practical, more compact and lighter than valves requiring electrical energy.
The object of the present invention is to provide, on the one hand, equipment for delivering gas, particularly medical oxygen, which is lightweight, practical, very suitable for patients to carry around with them and of compact design, making it possible to optimize the total weight of the assembly, to minimize the connection forces as far as possible, to eliminate any intervention on those parts exposed to the high pressure and therefore to limit the associated risks, and also to provide, on the other hand, an integrated valve assembly which is safer than existing valve assemblies and can form part of such an ambulatory equipment when it is mounted on a small gas bottle, in particular a medical oxygen bottle.